1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to batteries and, more particularly, to batteries including current collecting tabs.
2. State of the Art
In recent years, workers in the battery art have begun to understand the advantages of manufacturing batteries that have polymer electrolytes and sheet-like anodes and cathodes. The advantages of such so-called "thin package" batteries include lower battery weight than comparably-sized batteries that employ liquid electrolytes, longer service life, relatively high power densities, relatively high specific energies, and the elimination of danger due to the spillage of acidic liquid electrolytes.
Anode and cathode materials used in such batteries may be poor conductors of electricity. Thus, in fabricating such batteries, it is generally necessary to connect an anode to an anode current collector and a cathode to a cathode current collector so that electric energy can be efficiently drawn from the battery by an external load. In most of these batteries, current collectors are electrically connected to each anode and each cathode. Because it is generally an objective, in designing such batteries, to make a small, light-weight, yet powerful battery, it is desirable to keep the size and weight of the current collectors to a minimum. The small, light-weight current collectors are generally electrically connected to external loads by known electrical connectors. Often, connections formed with connectors such as alligator clips and the like damage the current collectors and result in poor performance of the battery. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a battery unit having a strong current collector arrangement.